The Harvard Industries Site (Site) is located at 601 North Albion Street in Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan, in a mixed residential, industrial and commercial area. The meridian coordinates for the Site are 42.25120 degrees North and -84.76928767 degrees West. The Site is located on a 66-acre parcel that is bordered to the north by Austin Avenue and residential and commercial properties; to the east by North Albion Street and residential and industrial properties; to the south by railroad tracks, industrial properties, and the Kalamazoo River; and to the west by industrial properties. The Kalamazoo River is approximately 450 feet south of the Site. Additional Site properties formerly owned by Harvard Industries include two parking areas, a building, and an area with a concrete foundation. These properties are located east of the 66-acre parcel across Albion Street.
Several companies have conducted foundry and manufacturing operations on Site since the early 1900s. Operations ceased at the Site in 2002. The majority of the Site operations were conducted on the southeast portion of the Site in the main building. This structure is a large concrete block and steel building that previously contained a laboratory, radiation room, offices, and manufacturing and machining facilities. Several other buildings also exist on Site, including a Quonset building (north of the main building) that contains numerous chemical drums and drums filled with waste products, and a garage on the northwest portion of the Site, where indications of a potential diesel underground storage tank (UST) system off the southwest corner of the building are present. The American Colloid Company, which has been operating since 1979, currently occupies several buildings near the middle of the Site on approximately two acres. A small city park (McAuliffe Park) that includes a baseball field, playground, and picnic area is located on the northeast portion of the Site and occupies approximately 10 of the 66 acres.
There are several open floor drains in the main building and scattered throughout the Site with unknown discharge points, but many of them likely tie into the main storm sewer that runs from the southeast portion of the Site in a southerly direction and discharges to the Kalamazoo River.
The Site is partially fenced, primarily on the north and east sides, and access is not restricted from the west and south. At the time of the Site assessment, the main building was being partially demolished by an independent contractor to recover salvageable metal. The main building walls have been removed on the west side; however, the east portion of the building along North Albion Street remains standing. The majority of the original tools and equipment have been removed from the Site; however, various containers, drums, and totes are scattered throughout the main building. Asphalt parking areas are located to the north of the main building across North Albion Street to the east. Entrances to the Site are located on the north and southeast sides of the Site. The outdoor areas of the Site are scattered with storage tanks, trailers and foundry sands.
At the request of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) initiated a Removal Action on August 27, 2007 to remove hazardous wastes that pose an imminent threat to human health, welfare, and the environment. The cleanup will take approximately eight weeks.
